The story I'm about to tell you may change the way you feel about Pan. No, not the kind you use to cook. I'm talking about Pan, the God of the Wild aka the guy Grover replaced, remember? No? Okay then. I suggest you go to this website so you know who I am talking about. wiki/Pan
Though this story isn't really about him. No, it is instead about his reed pipes which were later named panpipes in his honor. This is the story about how they were created and why they ended up with Pan.
A long time ago, back in the ancient days of Greece, Pan was roaming the hills with the ease of a mountain goat. He always did this, for the hills were his home. One day he met someone. A nymph to be exact. And if we know anything about the Greeks gods from the old myths, it's that they were (and still are) suckers for beautiful girls, especially if they're nymphs.
Her name was Syrinx, a follower of Artemis and known for her chastity. Which made her even more intoxicating in Pan's eyes because Greek gods love a girl who plays hard to get. (AN: If any Greek gods hear/read this, please don't smite me.)
When Syrinx was pursued by the smitten God of the Wild, she ran to the edge of a river and begged the resident river nymph to help her.
As nymphs (almost) always look out for one another, this particular nymph agreed to assist the poor Syrinx. Her idea of assistance was to transform Syrinx into hollow reeds.
Pan eventually caught up and figured out what happened. He let out a frustrated sigh which lead to Syrinx-now-water-reeds making a haunting sound. Inspired, Pan cut the reeds. So he probably ended up killing Syrinx in the process. Poor girl. After he cut them, Pan fashioned the reeds into the first set of panpipes.
Which means the God of the Wild carried around the corpse of a nymph that only became reeds to get him to leave her alone. I wonder what Artemis had to say when she found out one of her followers was now an instrument.
If there's a lesson to be learned from this...when someone says no, they probably mean no. So don't force them to take drastic measures like turning into a plant and then cut down said plant to make an instrument out of them. I never thought I'd have to write that. I mean, it's common courtesy, right?
AN: Hope you all enjoyed! Sorry for the late update but I've been swamped with work. Hopefully, I get to write a lot this week. Until next time don't go running through satyr-filled hills!
Kitkat Out!